GAME NOTES: The SEC's most-played rivalry will add another chapter on Thursday, as the Mississippi State Bulldogs make the short trip to face the Ole Miss Rebels for a conference clash at Tad Smith Coliseum.

Mississippi State saw a two-game win streak come to an end with a 72-66 defeat at the hand of Georgia on Saturday. The loss dropped the Bulldogs below the .500 mark on the season, and sunk the team's SEC record to 2-4. Away from home, the Bulldogs are 1-4 this year.

Ole Miss has been inconsistent in the last month of play, having not won or lost consecutive games since a pair of wins back in mid December. But the Rebels come into this matchup having won two of their last three, with a narrow 72-71 win over Florida on Saturday serving as the most recent outing.

This will be the 250th meeting between these two in-state rivals, which is the most between any two SEC programs in history. Mississippi State leads the series, 141-109, but Ole Miss owns an 80-43 advantage in Oxford. The Rebels have also won the last two head-to-head clashes with the Bulldogs.

A career night for Roquez Johnson wasn't enough to keep Mississippi State in the hunt for the win against Georgia on Saturday. Georgia's J.J. Frazier netted 37 points to keep his visiting Bulldogs ahead. Johnson tallied his second career double-double, scoring a career-best 25 points with 11 rebounds on the night. Craig Sword contributed 13 points for Mississippi State, adding in seven rebounds, while I.J. Ready chipped in with 12 points in the loss. Gavin Ware pulled down a team-best 12 boards.

Mississippi State has had to try and win games without much offensive consistency or production. The Bulldogs rank last in the SEC with a 61.3 ppg average, and are led in scoring by Johnson, who tallies 11.0 ppg. Fred Thomas is the only other Mississippi State player to net a double-digit scoring figure for the Bulldogs this season, adding in 10.3 ppg. The Bulldogs have been able to hover around .500 this season thanks to a solid defensive effort, which is holding opponents to 60.8 ppg this season. Ware leads Mississippi State and ranks fifth in the conference with 7.4 rpg.

With 3.5 seconds remaining on Saturday, senior guard Jarvis Summers knocked down two free throws that proved to be the winning margin, as his Rebels took down Florida by a single point. Summer scored 16 points and dished out eight assists to lead the team, while LaDarius White netted 13 points. Terence Smith chipped in with 11 and Dwight Coleby added 10 points in the win. Ole Miss was able to overcome a blistering shooting pace for the Gators, who knocked down 12-of-20 from 3-point range in the contest.

Stefan Moody only recorded six points in Ole Miss' win over Florida, but the guard still leads the Rebels in scoring this season at 15.1 ppg. Summers checks in a point behind Moody on average at 14.2 ppg, but the guard has dished out a team-high 75 assists this season. White rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers for the Rebels at 11.6 ppg, helping Ole Miss to score 74.2 ppg this season - good for fourth in the SEC. Sebastian Saiz, who nets 7.2 ppg, ranks second in the conference in field-goal percentage, hitting 61.5 percent of his tries from the floor.

Mississippi State has a tough challenge ahead, going to Oxford with the intention of taking down one of the better offensive teams in the SEC. The Rebels have other ideas as they try and string a pair of wins together for the first time in over a month.